Tories’ uni lives captured by Channel 4

A drama about David Cameron and Boris Johnson’s time at Oxford University has been commissioned by Channel 4.

The programme will focus on the pair’s controversial membership of the notorious Bullingdon Club in the late 1980s. The Club is famous for its excessive drinking sessions where members often trash venues and then offer large sums of money to pay for the damage.

“Everyone has seen the famous Bullingdon Club picture, but this film goes behind the scenes to find out what Oxford was really like for David Cameron and Boris Johnson,” said director John Dower.

“We have talked to those who knew them at the time to document the roots of the two men at the forefront of the current recovery of the Tory party.”

The film is to be broadcast on More4 in autumn. The timing of the broadcast, in the run-up to an election, has attracted criticism from Tory MPs who are concerned it may influence voters. Philip Davies, a member of the House of Commons Committee on Culture, Media and Sport, said the timing of the programme left Channel 4 open to “accusations they are pursuing an agenda”.

Cameron will be played by Cambridge graduate Jonny Sweet, a relatively unknown comedy actor who has appeared in cult comedy “The Inbetweeners” and who took his one man show “Mostly About Arthur” to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer.

The part of Boris Johnson is to be played by Christian Brassington, who previously played an undergraduate Tony Blair in the 2006 television drama “Tony Blair: Rock Star”.